When The Goodies had their hit The Funky Gibbon, little could they know that in fact the Gibbons have the ability to learn and use tools to create noises such as a door slamming.
Just a few seconds before she started her great call the female gibbon retreated into her sleeping box, singing as she went. She then half shut the sliding door to the wooden box. At the climax to her call, she would then slam the sliding door shut, and after it bounced back open again, she would jump out of the box, thrashing her arms and legs in a display. "I realised what I had seen was tool use." said the scientist
Similarly at least two Orangutans have learnt to whistle in different zoos, Ujan in Germany and Bonnie in Washington, and yet more evidence of tool use from Chimps, as well as evidence of forward planning (with a painful ending!).
We aint as superior as we like to think ..... just a few percentage of genes.
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| Doing The Funky Gibbon |
Just a few seconds before she started her great call the female gibbon retreated into her sleeping box, singing as she went. She then half shut the sliding door to the wooden box. At the climax to her call, she would then slam the sliding door shut, and after it bounced back open again, she would jump out of the box, thrashing her arms and legs in a display. "I realised what I had seen was tool use." said the scientist
Similarly at least two Orangutans have learnt to whistle in different zoos, Ujan in Germany and Bonnie in Washington, and yet more evidence of tool use from Chimps, as well as evidence of forward planning (with a painful ending!).
We aint as superior as we like to think ..... just a few percentage of genes.
And a few million years of evolution and they may get to play rugby for Scotland. Providing they can prove a distant ancestor once ate a bowl of porridge. With no sugar!
ReplyDeleteAye, but at least two can whistle "Bonny Scotland" now.
ReplyDelete